…or SRP, as we Army types call it, was brief and mostly painless. This is the processing that we do prior to leaving our home station (in my case, Fort Gordon), and for me, it started on 12 Feb. I checked into the orientation, had to get myself entered into the DARTS system, which as far as I can tell is a method of tracking the important details of deployed personell. Then I was given that All-Important Army Tool: the “signed checklist” which is simply a piece of paper with  the different things I need to do/places to go, and with a blank square next to each one, which has to be stamped, signed, or initialed by someone at that particular station. Everyone in the Army has filled out a lot of these in their lifetime.

My particular list had me traveling to places like the Connelly Clinic, the hospital, JAG office, ID card section, and so on. Many of the stations (especially the medical)were dependent upon having completed other stations, and often, station #1 was not open except on Thursday from 9 to noon, thereby blocking completion of stations 2, 3, and 4 until after that time. Due to these potential conflicts, we are told that SRP should take about 10 days, but I was highly motivated and completed it in 4 days (though with a little help from my doctor/nurse friends who helped me get EKG, CXR, labs, etc). Nice to get that last box on the checklist signed, which took place on Friday 15 Feb. Today (19 Feb), I got a call from the 1SGT telling me that my orders were ready.